Seeking independence from her family in Brewer Street, Soho, London in 1858, Elizabeth Susanna Browning responds to an advertisement placed by 'Zeta' in The Times newspaper. Within days, Elizabeth is appointed housekeeper to 'Zeta', a strange but charismatic American engineer and newspaper editor, Zerah Colburn. Before long, 'Lizzy' as she is called by Mr. Colburn, and her new employer are sailing to New York on the iron steamer, Great Eastern. The couple marry in New York but a turbulent married life unfolds in Philadelphia where Zerah Colburn has launched a weekly newspaper. Hit by the 1860 financial crash, the newspaper folds and the couple head for London. In London, life is no happier for Lizzy who faces a personal and humiliating crisis. Faced with the diemma of staying with her husband or leaving, Lizzy hires a private enquiry agent, Mr. Bentley. What Mr. Bentley uncovers wounds Lizzy. But there are more shocks in store before she finds peace of mind with a new lover, another engineer, but from Norway.